


Matchmaking

by captain_starcat



Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: Beginnings, Gen, Napoleon is Waverly's favorite, Origin Stories, highly portentous musings, the best decision Waverly made without his pipe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 01:10:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5072170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_starcat/pseuds/captain_starcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander Waverly heard it said that he assigned UNCLE agent partnerships like he were arranging marriage. And why not?</p>
<p>(Or: Waverly's new CEA is having a hard time keeping a partner.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matchmaking

**Author's Note:**

> This story, like this fandom, jumped me unexpectedly and demanded my full attention. In the case of this story, it was 5am and my first MUNCLE fic. I REGRET NOTHING~
> 
> [has been given several rather thorough editing passes but plz don't hesitate to point out if I missed anything]

Alexander Waverly heard it said that he assigned UNCLE agent partnerships like he were arranging marriage. And why not? A good marriage was like any other good partnership; it required trust, compatibility, and hard work – just ask Mrs Waverly. Twenty-two years this July – any good agent team would be lucky to last half that long.

Currently, however, Waverly would be happy to arrange any partnership for his new CEA, ideal or otherwise, that lasted longer than a mission. Of the last six agents he'd assigned to work with Napoleon Solo, three reported back after their missions with near-identical complaints: that Agent Solo was a madman, and they'd rather quit UNCLE, or even be transferred to desk duty, than stay partnered to him. Solo himself vetoed another two, citing “insurmountable working differences,” which Waverly suspected simply meant “they couldn't keep up and/or got in my way.” The problem was that Solo was good – a little too good, and a little too impatient, to work with any agent of a lesser caliber.

The sixth agent Waverly assigned to Napoleon Solo seemed ideal – until he didn't make it back from their second mission together.

“I gave him as much time as I could,” Solo had explained in the post-mission proceedings, eyes flat. Their first affair had been a success, and the two agents seemed to get along well. It was obvious the incident was affecting him. “We'd agreed the best course was to let THRUSH's research notes go up in smoke with the lab, but as soon as Jonason figured out where that storeroom we'd heard the guards talking about must be, he went tearing off after it. We'd already set the timers on the charges, and they were armed. I tried to tell him there wasn't time and we had to leave, but he thought he could be quick...”

A tragedy to be sure, as it was whenever he lost an agent. Especially tragic, both because of the foolhardiness of the incident, and the high hopes he'd had for Jonason, and Jonason as Solo's partner.

With Jonason's death, Waverly's list of potential partners for his CEA had become almost nonexistent. He supposed he could try out the new Soviet agent who'd been transferred from UNCLE Northeast a few weeks ago, but he'd been avoiding Kuryakin's name for the job. He didn't doubt the man's work and certainly not his loyalties, but he'd wanted to get Kuryakin settled a little more at the New York HQ before subjecting him to Solo. Solo was his top agent, and certainly proved himself in the role, but Waverly could see how the qualities that made him a primary weapon in UNCLE's arsenal could also make him a nightmare of a partner. Self-assured, self-possessed, and highly competent, his CEA excelled alone in the field, and made it known that was how he preferred to work. 'Solo', indeed. The mission and a half with Jonason was the closest Solo had come to acquiescing to this partnership edict Waverly was trying to push through.

And then there was Kuryakin himself, who was having about as much difficulty retaining a partner as Solo these days. The agents he'd worked with so far complained Kuryakin was cold, aloof, and condescending; a good agent, but with a ruthless streak that covered several nearby states. One agent even used the phrase “sadistic robot,” which Waverly suspected, with dark amusement, was something the man would never dare say to Kuryakin's face. The issue, however, was if no one would work with Kuryakin, that left Waverly with yet another mess on his hands.

_No, no, forget all that then,_ he decided suddenly. It was really quite simple. He would pair Solo and Kuryakin for next week's mission. Let them deal with each other's problematic styles and idiosyncrasies and see how they like it, he thought with satisfaction. Something told him it wasn't a bad idea, though. He could see how their skills and specialties were highly compatible, and if their particular brands of lunacy could be made to work together...

_Well,_ Waverly thought, settling back in his desk chair, _if they manage not to kill each other, this may well prove quite interesting._


End file.
